About Stars of Lyra
Revered Australian jazz musician and double bassist Jonathan Zwartz leads a uniquely intimate series of duo performances with the pianists that have illuminated his musical life: Mike Nock, Barney McAll, Andrea Keller, Novak Manojlovic and Chris Abrahams.

The five stars of the constellation Lyra – which in Greek mythology represents the Lyre of Orpheus — are both title and guiding metaphor.

Five performances, five pianists, each a guiding star of Australian music. 

These are years-long collaborations expressed in new music composed for the performance, each lighting a different side of the musicianship that has led Jonathan Zwartz to the centre of Australian jazz.

Performances will feature The Church’s Fazioli piano, as well as an appearance by one of five guest young artists: Martha Marlow, Leah Berry, Samantha Baxendale, Ruby Jackson and Arlo Sim.

About Jonathan Zwartz
As double bassist, Jonathan has played with Pharoah Sanders, Branford Marsalis, Lionel Loueke, Kurt Elling, Nigel Kennedy, Mark Murphy, Annie Ross, Larry Goldings, Johnny Griffin, Terri-Lynn Carrington, Genesis Owusu, and Katie Noonan.

Jonathan is also a composer, producer, songwriter, and live music advocate. 

He has released three award winning albums as composer and bandleader. His debut Album ‘The Sea’ was released in 2009 and won two Bell awards.

His follow up CD entitled ‘The Remembering and Forgetting of the Air’, won best jazz album in the Australian Recording Industry (AIR) awards.

His third Album ‘Animarum’ (2018) won the ARIA for best jazz album as well as the Bell and Air awards for that year.

In late 2019 recorded with Mike Nock, Julien Wilson and Hamish Stuart a composer’s collaborative album entitled ‘This World’ which was released in 2020 to critical acclaim, sold out a two-week National tour and was nominated for an ARIA award. In 2021 the follow up album ‘Another Dance’ was recorded and released in early 2022. It entered at no 2 on the ARIA Blues and Roots Charts.

In 2021 Jonathan was commissioned by SIMA to compose a concert work for the visiting Finnish Harpist and pianist Iro Haarla. After some delay due to the Covid epidemic, the suite was performed for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival in November 2022. The Melbourne concert was recorded and broadcast by the ABC.

He co-produced and wrote the orchestrations for singer/songwriter Martha Marlow’s debut album, Medicine Man released in May 2021. 

He curated a series of free concerts for City of Sydney in 2021 under the working title ‘Music and Architecture’. He is currently pursuing an initiative to reactivate bandstands and rotundas in NSW for Make Music Day.

Jonathan is a Writer Director Board member of APRA.

Jonathan has a Masters Degree in Music from the Australian National University, an Associate Diploma in Jazz Studies from the NSW Conservatorium and a diploma in screen composition at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 2012.  

He has composed Music for documentaries - ‘To Spring From The Hand’ (2014) ‘Ka-Ching, a Pokies Nation’ (ABC, 2015), ‘Madhattan’, (2016), ‘The Scribe’ (ABC 2017) ‘Backtrack Boys’ (ABC 2018), ‘Richard Leplastrier – Framing the View’ (ABC 2020) and several short films also.

He is co-director of The Starfish Club, a monthly concert series now celebrating its 24th year, featuring artists such as Jon Cleary, Deb Conway and Willy Zygier, Don Walker, Tim Rogers, Amanda Brown and Lindy Morrison, Leah Flannagan, Rai Thistlethwayte, Reg Mombassa and Peter O’Doherty, Diana Rouvas, Steve Kilbey, Jade MacRae, Mahalia Barnes, Lucy Thorne and many more.

About Barney McAll
Barney McAll is an ARIA-winning, Grammy-nominated pianist and composer and a leading creative light on the jazz scene in Australia today. 

Pianist, composer, producer, and teacher, he lived in New York for 15 years playing and collaborating with such luminaries as Gary Bartz, Dewey Redman, Jimmy Cobb, Billy Harper, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and the Groove Collective. He was also Musical Director for pop sensation Sia.

Notably Barney McCall has won an Aria, two music Victoria awards, 6 bell Awards, and an AIR award, and been nominated for the Australian Music Prize twice and a Grammy award! 

With over 100 album credits and 28 solo releases to his name, Barney McAll has established himself as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary jazz.  Recently, Barney’s artistry was showcased in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert alongside Gary Bartz, further cementing his reputation as an original and distinctive voice, not just here but worldwide. 

About Ruby Jackson
Sydney born songwriter, vocalist and composer Ruby Jackson is flourishing into one of Australia’s most authentic, world class creators and performers of music. Inspired by the voices of Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday, Ruby discovered her love for the world of jazz during her high school years, which led her to study composition at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music. 

Since graduating in 2022, Jackson has developed her own unique lane in both Jazz & R&B, which has seen her open for Ball Park Music as part of Sydney’s Twilight at Taronga 2024, International sensation Morcheeba (UK) at The Tivoli, and recently receive a nomination for best Soul/R&B Album/EP as part of the 2024 AIR Awards (Australian Independent Record Labels Association). 

Through her sophisticated blend of Jazz and RNB, Ruby forms a timeless bond with her audiences, and has quickly earned a reputation for both writing beyond her years and creating moments of magic on stage.

She is a master musical story teller and spell weaver, and she takes the listener on a love affair journey through the revered jazz song world, where hidden beauty lies and is gently revealed.